[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 589-590]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




INTRODUCING A BILL TO REQUIRE THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE TO SUBMIT A 
  REPORT TO CONGRESS ON PAYMENT RATES FOR SCHOOL MEALS AND SUPPLEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                  HON. GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN

                    of the northern mariana islands

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 23, 2013

  Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, today, I am introducing legislation that 
will provide this Congress with the information we need to determine 
whether the U.S. Department of Agriculture is correctly reimbursing 
schools in the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Puerto 
Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands for student meals.
  Congress has already recognized that there may be costs in the 
insular and non-contiguous areas of our nation that are different than 
those in the continental United States and for this reason gave the 
Secretary of Agriculture the authority to set adjusted reimbursement 
rates in 42 U.S.C. 1760(f):

       In providing assistance for breakfasts, lunches, suppers, 
     and supplements served in

[[Page 590]]

     Alaska, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, the Virgin 
     Islands of the United States, and the Commonwealth of the 
     Northern Mariana Islands, the Secretary may establish 
     appropriate adjustments for each such State to the national 
     average payment rates prescribed under sections 1753, 1759a, 
     1761 and 1766 of this title and section 4 of the Child 
     Nutrition Act of 1966, to reflect the differences between the 
     costs of providing meals and supplements in those States and 
     the costs of providing meals and supplements in all other 
     States.

  [Here ``States'' means the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and 
the named U.S. insular areas.]
  The Secretary has used this authority to set adjusted--and place-
appropriate rates--for both Alaska and Hawaii, where transportation and 
other factors add to the cost of providing meals in the schools. In the 
other insular areas--the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American 
Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands--however, where 
distance and reverse economies of scale can increase costs just as in 
Alaska and Hawaii, schools are reimbursed at the standard national rate 
that applies throughout the continental U.S.
  Those of us who shuttle between our duties in Congress and the 
insular areas we represent are familiar with the costs of food and 
other services both here and at home. We know that there are 
differences. And, if these differences mean that children in our areas 
are receiving less food or less nutritious food or no food at all 
because the current reimbursement rates are inadequate, then we need 
that information. By the same token--though this is not my 
expectation--if the federal government is overpaying, then Congress 
needs to know that, as well.
  The legislation I am introducing today requires the Secretary of 
Agriculture to report to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
Forestry of the Senate on:
  1. the difference between the costs of providing meals and 
supplements under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and 
the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 in the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, 
American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands and the 
average cost of providing these meals and supplements in the 50 States 
and the District of Columbia; and
  2. the relationship of those cost differences and the reimbursement 
rates offered to the insular areas.
  Accurate information, such as this legislation will provide to 
Congress, is essential for accurate policy-making. I urge my colleagues 
to co-sponsor this bill and thank them for their support.

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